Dark Waters
by Eureka89
Summary: Tortured for years then released on humanity. Joe has more than a few loose ends to tie. One of them being the trio. AU.
1. Release

**One Year Earlier**

He sat quietly on his messy cot. All around him seemed still. He could hear no noise, he could see no movement. He couldn't even smell the sweat of the guard behind the mirrored wall. The air was even processed and vented into is prison. He'd been living this way since they scooped him out of the Bering Sea. They experimented on him in this facility hidden in the wilderness near the tiny town of Quinhagak, Alaska.

"How are you today Joe?" The intercom squealed.

"Same as always, Irene." Joe recognized the voice right away. Irene had helped him escape a couple of times. He was always caught before he could reach the Kanektok River. She had given up hope that any of the beasts they kept in these rooms could escape and refused to help him anymore. He resented her for that.

"You've got another test today. See you in an hour." The intercom clicked and Joe was alone again. He knew the routine. A full body search followed by hand and feet cuffs. He wouldn't tolerate it today. Today he would escape. The door clicked open and Joe fought off the first three guards. He made it down the hall and to the stair case before they started shooting. His head hit the step and all went black.

"Are you sure it's safe to operate without sedating him?" A gruff old voice pulled Joe out of his sleep. The CEO of Obelisk Research Company, Jacob Reed stood over him. Reed was a greedy, old man and Joe could only think about tearing him limb from limb. He was restrained and Dr. Samuel Dorian was pulling an array of bullets out of Joe. Dr. Dorian was the lead researcher of project Triton and Joe's personal satan.

"We haven't figured out the proper amount. Give him too much and he will die. You'd think we would have figured it out after sixteen years." Dr. Dorian chuckled briefly. "We need not tamper with these being Jacob. As I've said many a time-"

"As I've said many a time, no." Reed interrupted.

"At least they'd be able to handle him. I'm getting much too old for this." Dr. Dorian pulled the final bullet free from Joe's tough skin.

"Then train someone to take your place. No one else will make the billions I have. Particularly not the military, I'll make sure of it. Speaking of which, that new skin cream is selling like hot cakes." Reed looked down at Joe, "Did you hear that boy?"

"I'm not deaf old man." Joe said with a menacing look.

"I guess you'll have already read my mind. You'll already know the term s of your release then."

Dr. Dorian stared in bewilderment at his old friend.

"Yes. Another GPS tracker and a happy face." Joe bared his teeth in a mock smile.

"Another one? What's wrong with the one you already have?"

"Didn't you hear? Your sharp shooters hit it so many times its junk now."

"I won't replace it."Reed grunted, "You cost me too much money, leave."

Joe didn't hesitate after they took off his restraints. He ran up the many flights of stairs and flung open the doors. The fresh air lifted his mood and he all but yelled his joy. He continued all the way to the river and dove in the icy water. With any luck he would make it to Antarctica within a week. He would completely isolate himself from all human contact. Humans disgusted him. He had all the time in the world to plan his revenge. Not only for Jacob Reed but for any humans that crossed his path.

**Present Day**

Emma, Cleo and Rikki stood on the white sand beach of their secret alcove. They were moments away from stepping into the calm surf when they gazed upon a shark swimming restlessly near the beach. They knew sharks never came in this close to the shore at this time of day. They tried to get closer without getting wet. Cleo was the first to cry out in disbelief. She turned tail and ran toward the JuiceNet Café phone in hand.

"Okay, okay slow down. So it was a shark?" Lewis asked in a booth at the JuiceNet Café. Rikki and Emma sat across from him, Cleo was beside him.

"No," Rikki said exasperated, "It was too big. It had hands and fingers like a person but they were webbed. Eyes like a cat and it was kinda deformed."

"I think it was a merman." Cleo smiled from ear to ear at her epiphany.

"Right, a merman." Lewis was skeptical, "Those don't exist."

"You didn't think mermaids existed until a year ago." Emma reminded him.

"Then let's conduct an experiment. The next full moon I'll jump into the moon pool and see if I turn grey."

"No way." the girls said in unison.

"What? why?"

"You would give mermen a bad name. Work out some more and then we'll talk." Rikki poked him in the chest.

"What do you propose we do about this supposed merman." Lewis crossed his arms. "Nothing, as long as he doesn't cause any trouble." Emma said scooting out of the booth.

Down the beach Joe slowly pulled himself out of the water. All three meters of him struggled to get out of the water. His lungs were hardly large enough to keep him alive as he struggled up the sandy beach. That was when it hit him, the pains of the transformations. His spine was beginning to shrink, his gills disappeared, his lungs were now taking up a fairly large portion of his chest, his fin began to split, his skull shrank, but what hurt the most was when his eyes changed. Perhaps slightly more impressive than his external changes were the chemical changes in his body. His body was producing endorphins to stave off the pain, but too little effect, while his brain chemistry changed. His body's tolerance of certain hormones decreased dramatically, leaving him in a sense of blind anger.

As a human he looked almost kind, he appeared to be from Scandinavian decent, and was only a hair under six feet. With the exception of the skin tight suit he wore, he wouldn't have looked too far out of place in a Nazi propaganda poster. He kept his hair buzzed military style and his skin was tough from living in the cold waters of the Antarctic so long.

He waited until the early hours of the morning before attempting to leave the beach. He walked to the closest clothing store and climbed to the roof. He pulled off the cover of the vent and jumped in. Avoiding all alarms he walked around until he found a small room where the owner kept the security tapes. Joe ejected the tape from the VCR and destroyed it. He then proceeded to find the most inconspicuous clothing in the store and climbed back out the vent.

He changed clothes in the adjoining alley. Leaving his skin suit in the dumpster he calmly walked away. He needed to get familiar with the area before he started picking off its people. The girls that discovered him earlier that day crossed him mind. They were different and he couldn't figure out how. They had ran before he had the chance to read their minds. They would be his first targets he decided. He came to a small building and sat down against it to wait for morning.

Emma had to open the JuiceNet for Wilfred and arrived a couple hours early. She didn't see the guy sleeping at the front of the building. She normally let herself in the back door when it was this early in the morning. She finished setting up the store and unlocking the door she poked her head out.

"Excuse me." she said loudly, "You need to leave."

The boy looked to be about her age and she didn't have any tolerance for him already. He opened his eyes slowly and looked up at her. Emma saw a brief sparkle of recognition in his eye before a mask of indifference was put in place. He stood up and read the menu tacked on the wall in front of him.

"I want a juice." He had a Russian accent.

"Sorry we are not open yet. Come back later." She smiled and closed the door, locking it quickly.

"Yes, later." Emma watched him walk off and sighed with relief.

_A/N: Dark Waters is the good dr.'s brain child I merely adopted it. He wrote the first two chapters and I rewrote them. I didn't change everything though. You will still find snippets from his original chapters. I've got great plans for this story. Before I wrap this note up I'm also working on something that hasn't been done me a message and I'll give you a link.  
_

_cheers_


	2. Just Some Fun

Joe returned to the café after it opened and sat at a table outside. He watched Emma through the window trying to get into her head. She would go out of his range only when she went into the cool room. Joe was patient. He had to block out the thoughts of the customers around him, but he couldn't move any closer or risk her throwing him out or walling her mind. She was thinking about Joe. He could tell that he scared her. She knew he was watching and purposely didn't come outside.

He delved deeper into her mind. Her family, and memories flooded his mind. He waded through them to her well guarded secrets. A gasp almost escaped his lips as he stumbled upon her most guarded secret. She was a mermaid. He didn't stop there he went a little further; he learned that her friends were mermaids and what powers they had. He memorized their faces and released her mind. Most people are a little dazed after the first time he reads their mind. She shouldn't be able to walk straight after he went so far in, but she walked her rounds like nothing had happened. Joe was determined to trip her up. It had been a long time since he had had some fun.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Cleo and Rikki walk around the corner of the building. He took hold of Emma's mind and forced her attention to the door. He created a hallucination. Emma saw Cleo and Rikki being forced through the beaded door and brutally murdered. All she could do was watch. She was helpless, she couldn't move a muscle let alone utter a word. Soon she passed out from a sudden panic attack as the killer came for her. Joe laughed and left the café jumping into the canal and swimming far away.

Cleo and Rikki ran to Emma's side as she fell to the ground. Cups shattered as they dropped from her hands. Rikki called Lewis and with his help they took her home. Wilfred had encouraged them to take her to the hospital instead. They couldn't risk it. Wouldn't risk it. Emma gasped for breath when she awoke and flung to the first person she saw.

"What happened?" Cleo asked trying to wiggle out of Emma's death grip.

"I thought you were dead!" she wailed.

"Why would you think we were dead?" Rikki asked jokingly.

"I saw you being killed right in front of me. I passed out when he came after me. I've never been so scared in my life."Emma recalled, "It didn't help that _he_ was watching the whole time."

"Who?" Cleo and Rikki became very serious.

"The guy sitting outside with the buzz cut." Emma finally let go of Cleo.

"I didn't notice him." Rikki closed the bedroom door. "You didn't take anything before work did you?"

"No I had my usual. Eggs and special protein drink."

"Did you have anything at work?"

"No. I was really stressing about that guy. I probably just got too freaked out and my brain didn't know what to do…Or it could just be a mermaid thing." Emma looked away.

"That just doesn't make any sense." Cleo added. "Maybe you were drugged."

"That's silly. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

"She has a valid point." Rikki pointed out, "Your stalker could have slipped you something."

"I don't know how he was outside the entire time." Emma's eyes widened. "Maybe he is the merman and he is trying to communicate with us."

Rikki laughed, "Good one and next time you see the Easter Bunny let him know I said hey."

"We're not mermaids twenty-four seven. Why would you think he is? Besides I talked to him before the JuiceNet opened. He has a Russian accent."

"Okay I see where you might link this guy to our merman." Rikki thought aloud. "It might also explain his color."

"Only way to really know is to ask him." Cleo said.

Emma and Rikki nodded and they left the house. Lewis met up with then an hour into the search to help. He wasn't sure what to look for and questioned every guy that passed him. When the search on land failed they continued to the water. They stuck together and swam slow. At night fall they gave up and headed to Mako.

"What's left?" Cleo whined, "We've looked everywhere and I'm exhausted."

"The shark reef." Rikki said slowly.

"It's too dangerous there." Emma added.

"Not for me. I'll go alone and if I find him we'll met ten feet away." Rikki swan off before they could argue about it.

Emma pursed her lips and looked at Cleo. "Let's go."

They waited only five minutes before Rikki emerged on the surface with the merman.

"Who are you?" Emma began, "What did you do to me this afternoon?"

Joe laughed, "So you are the smart one. Rikki is the angry one and Cleo the childish one. I've read your mind and know everything about you three. You may call me Joe and I was merely having a little fun."

"Fun?" Emma looked astonished. "I almost had a heart attack!"

"Wasn't it exhilarating?"

"No it wasn't. I thought I was really going to die."

"What do you what?" Cleo asked trying to change the subject.

"I just want to have some fun. You know kill everything without a fin." Joe said flippantly.

"You're not serious."Cleo asked.

"Quite. If you get in my way I'll have no mercy you will die." With that Joe turned and swam away.


	3. Murder by Numbers

Joe kept a low profile for a while. He wanted to give the girls a false sense of security so to speak. It worked for a couple of weeks then he got bored. Joe followed the girls to school the next morning. Being careful to stay back far enough to keep from alerting them. He wondered around the campus while they were in class looking for the best place to lay in wait. He noticed a curly headed boy leave one of the ground floor class rooms and dash to the restrooms. That gave him an idea.

Joe power walked to the restroom and waited outside the door for the boy. The boy smiled at Joe as he opened the door.

"All yours mate."

Joe grabbed his arm, "Do you know the one called Emma?"

"Yeah man, we're pretty tight. What kind of accent is that?"

"And her friends?"

"You mean Rikki and Cleo? You want me to hook you up man?"

"No thank you. Can I show you something?" Joe gently guided the boy in front of him and pulled a sharp shell out of his pocket. "It's over there on the wall by the girl's room."

The boy looked all around the wall, "I don't see it, are you sure you saw anything."

"No." Joe put his arm around the boys head and used the shell to slit his throat from ear to ear. He caught him as he fell and pulled him into the girl's room. He set the boy up against the wall and with his blood wrote on the wall above his head. Joe smiled at his work and left the campus he had a few more errands to run.

"Rikki I need to see you." The principal asked through the doorway of the classroom. "Bring your things."

Rikki could see Emma and Cleo leaning against the wall behind her and relaxed. She knew she couldn't be in major trouble if those two were involved. Rikki gather her stuff and walked to the door. She ignored all the snide remarks made as she left the room. Together they walked to the restroom near the gym. The principal made a quick call and the almost immediately a lock-in drill began. Then they followed her into the restroom.

"Byron!" Emma cried out. Cleo ran into a stall and Rikki could hear the sounds of her heaving. Rikki returned her attention to the body. Looking for why they were called to see this horrific sight. There was an almost illegible note written above Byron's head.

"For Rikki, Cleo and Emma." She read.

"Do you know who did this?" The principal asked looking at Rikki.

"No." Rikki looked to her friends, "Who would do this?"

"Why would he do this?" Emma sobbed.

"Alright I think this is enough the police are on their way. You are excused for the rest of the day. I'll call your parents."

"No need we live close enough we can walk." Rikki grabbed the other two girl's hands and escorted them to Cleo's house tears running down all their faces.

"Call Lewis." Rikki ordered Cleo. Emma was the one that usually came up with the plans but it seemed Rikki was the only one emotionally stable at the moment. They waited for Lewis to arrive in the before continuing. "We need to stop Joe. He's serious about killing."

"How so far he finds you not the other way around." Lewis said thoughtful.

"I found him once in the shark reef, but he's moved on. We could tell the cops about him?"

"Right and since there is no evidence that he even exists I doubt they will believe you. I've been trying to do some research on him and so far I've found squat."

"Keep it up Lewis we need to find something…anything on him." Emma added.

"I'll give you a call," Lewis waved his new phone in the air.

"When'd you get that Money Bags?" Rikki quickly swiped at it.

"My new PDA. I've been saving for a long time to get this." Lewis held it out of her reach, "I've got to go. Be careful."

"You too." Cleo said looking around, "What's that noise?"

All three girls looked in their purses. Emma pulled out her phone and answered.

"Hello?" she was unsure who it was.

"zdravstvuyte Emma." Joe's accent seemed thicker on the phone.

"What do you want Joe?" Emma quickly put her phone on speaker.

"I want to talk to you and your friends."

"When and where?"

"Behind the green grocery store downtown in three days." Joe hung up.

"Green grocery store?" Cleo asked confused.

"I think he means the one near the bowling alley. I know where it is." Rikki answered.

As they lived in constant paranoia for three days Cleo kept up with the news and the pile up of bodies. She just couldn't understand why he would do this. Cleo and Emma had spent the night at Rikki's house and in the morning she took them to the alley that would lead them unseen to the back of the grocery store. They had gone about five steps when a cat hissed at them from a tall pile of garbage. Rikki hissed back. The cat's eyes narrowed, tail shooting up into an insulted exclamation point.

"Leave the kitty alone." Cleo said pushing Rikki along. "You're a mermaid not a dog, remember?"

As they turned Emma saw something sticking out from under the bags of garbage. At first it looked like a row of four small, pink pebbles peeking out from between two bags. The sight was so out of place that she stepped toward it, shooing away the cat. As she drew closer she realized what she was really seeing: toes.

"Look at this," She muttered, "Joe must be them lying around on purpose."

"I'd put money on that." Rikki said.

Rikki stepped forward and jumped up nudging the top bag back for a better view. The rest of the bags toppled over and the body tumbled to the ground. The young man's head lolled to the side at an impossible angle, neck clearly broken. Unruly blonde hair shined even in the darkness of the alley.

"Lewis." Cleo whispered.

"No." Emma and Rikki said.

Rikki shot off into the darkness, running footsteps echoing down the alley. She knew Joe was watching somewhere laughing. She found him at the end of the street and chased him to the beach. She followed him to a cliff and held out her hand. He was cornered.

"Too much smoke too little fire." Joe stood on the edge glaring at Rikki.

"What?" He voice was higher than normal.

"They have smoldered your fire. I read your mind saw your memories. You used to really burn. Why have you let them do this to you? They are holding you back."

"They are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I have control now!"

"Then use your powers."

Rikki hesitated and instead clenched her fist and punched him. Joe laughed and grabbed her arm as she swung again. He pulled it behind her back and held her there.

"Do you want to know how I did it? How I killed your friend?" He whispered in her ear, "I'm going to tell you anyway. I went by the blonde one, what's her name…Emma's house and asked for his number. Her parents are quite gullible. I had to burn the house after they saw me of course. It's still burning by the way, I can still smell it."

"You bastard!" Rikki struggled against him.

"Shh-shh. Then I called the boy and we had a long talk this morning, but I was going tired of him."

"What do you want from us? Are you killing our loved ones on purpose?"

"Yes and no. I want you to join me. In order for that to happen I need to cut all your ties to the human world."

"You could kill everyone in Australia and we would never join you."

"Now, now don't be so-ooh" Rikki stomped on Joe's foot and gained enough room to turn around and knee him in the gonads. He still had hold of her arm and pulled her off the cliff with him. Joe pushed Rikki under him and she hit the water first knocking the wind out of her. They changed and she darted toward the surface. Joe was already out of sight.

_Just so everyone doesn't ask zdravstvuyte means hello in Russian. Reviews are golden. Thanks for reading._


	4. The Death of Joe

Cleo and Emma called the police and let them have the task of telling his family. Cleo was devastated. Emma walked her home, it was a huge loss for all of them. She tried to keep a clear head in case Rikki never came. She knew Rikki was strong and hoped that she hadn't found Joe. Emma explained the situation to Don and helped Cleo to her room. She sat Cleo on the bed where she curled up into a ball and sobbed. Emma got on Cleo's computer.

"If we can find out where Joe came from we might be able to send him back. What do we know about Joe?" Emma said to herself.

"He's a merman." Rikki answered as she walked in the room.

"Grey with freaky eyes. I guess we could just say shark-like."

"Hates humans…he could be Russian."

"Right." Emma typed franticly.

"I'll go to Lewis' house and see what research he completed." Rikki said wanting to be useful.

"No need." Cleo sat up, "He left his laptop over there."

Rikki picked it up off the floor and powered it up. She set it on the bed and Emma joined her. A download bar popped up. It was a huge text file that took several minutes to complete. Rikki clicked on it and smiled.

"He must have sent this from his PDA when he talked to Joe." Rikki scrolled through it quickly, "Jacob Reed. We need to find him."

Emma nodded and went back to Cleo's computed and within a few minutes they had a phone number. Emma took out her cell and put it on Speaker then dialed the number.

"Obelisk Research. How may I help you?" A less than cheery woman answered.

"I need to speak with Jacob Reed."Emma said.

"Who doesn't. May I ask who you are?"

"Joe's friend. He'll know what I mean."

"Ma'am I'm afraid I'll need your real name."

"He will understand. This is very important."

"Name please?" The woman was becoming very agitated.

"Emma Gilbert."

"I'm sorry you're not on the list. I can't patch you through. Is there anyone else you wish to talk to?"

"Where are you located?"

"Quinhagak, Alaska."

Emma hung up, "How long do you think it would take to get to Alaska?"

"A few hours maybe." Rikki guessed, "Emma I need to tell you something."

Rikki pulled her to the side, "Joe set your house on fire. I went by to see the damage, no one was hurt, but you're going to be homeless for a while."

"Thank you." Emma's eyes darkened and she went back to Cleo, "We'll leave in the morning."

Emma and Rikki pulled out the sleeping bags they kept in the closet and quickly fell asleep. Only an hour afterward did Rikki suddenly wake up. Cleo was crying again and once more she left the warmth of her bag and crawled in bed with Cleo.

"Come here it'll be okay." Rikki whispered as Cleo quickly rolled over and clung on to her.

"Where did you chase him?" Cleo whispered hoarsely.

"To the cliffs on the west side."

"Tell me what happened."

"I chased him to the edge of the cliff and punched him. Then he grabbed my arm and I kicked him. We fell off the side and I swam to the beach and came here as fast as I could." Rikki was alreasy getting sleep again.

"I want better details."

"And I want cake, but we don't always get what we want." Rikki patted the girl on the head, "Go to sleep. There will be plenty of time to mourn after we get rid of Joe."

Rikki slipped out of the bed and forgetting Emma was sleeping right at the side, she tripped and fell. Curiously Emma didn't wake. "That girl could sleep through a typhoon. Next time you wake me up, I'm waking her up."

All three got up before dawn and snuck down to the beach together. The dove into the restless water and rushed to the Bering Sea. They arrived in Quinhagak by lunch and hitched a ride to the compound. When they entered they would hear the voice of the woman they had talked to on the phone. They walked over to her desk in the middle of the room and demanded to see Jacob Reed.

"Do you have an appointment?" She didn't bother to look up from her computer screen.

"Cleo." Emma said.

Cleo held out her hand and took control of the woman, paralyzing her. Rikki jumped over the desk and rustled through the papers. She nodded when she had what they needed and ran over to the elevators. Cleo relinquished her control when the elevator doors were almost closed. They stopped on the sixth floor in the basement. The doors opened and they swiped a key card to gain access to the room. A man was standing beside a fish tank watching them enter the room through a reflection.

"Are you Jacob Reed?" Cleo asked quietly.

"How did you get down here? I specifically told that air head no visitors." He turned around to face them. "What do you want and make it fast."

"Joe." Emma said.

"Well your too late I've already released him." Reed took a closer look at them, "Are you related in any way?"

"No." the girls said in unison.

"Then you have no more business here leave before I call security." Reed sat down in an arm chair and picked up a magazine.

"You have misunderstood. We don't want Joe. He has been on a killing spree in Australia and we tracked him back to you." Rikki walked over and removed the magazine from his hands, "We want you to retrieve him, kill him, it doesn't matter just make him leave forever."

"I see." Reed looked her in the eye, "How many?"

"At least five dead and one burnt house."

"Where?"

"He's been staying somewhere off the Gold Coast. Our boat is pretty small and cheap we were afraid to go too far."

"Your boat huh?" Reed smiled, "I'll send my men out today. This was his only chance and he blew it. I'm giving the kill order."

Rikki nodded and together the girls returned to Mako the only safe place left. Reed was good on his word. His men stuck out like a sore thumb. They followed the girls around and stood guard outside their homes. Joe didn't seem to care; he made a couple of appearances at the JuiceNet, but escaped before the men could pull out their guns. The girls would have to draw him out and corner him somehow.

"Come out, come out wherever you are!" Rikki shouted as she walked down the empty street, "I know you're here Joe!"

"And I know your plan." His voice ringed in her head.

"All the more reason to screw it up."

"You know me too well." Joe stepped out of the shadows and faces Rikki, "So when are they going to jump out?"

"Oh oops. Did I forget which plan we were going to try today? I get them mixed up so easily." Rikki put her hand to her chin. She nodded surreptitiously and a jet of water threw Joe up against the side of a tree. He transformed and Reeds men fired at him from all around. Bits of flesh and blood flew through the air. Rikki had moved a safe distance away and called Emma to tell her the good news. "Can I get a tee-shirt or maybe some cash for coming up with this?"

Reeds men cleaned up Joe's remains quietly ignoring Rikki. She asked a few more times then gave up and went for a juice.

"The next time something like this happens I'm getting paid." Rikki pointed to the man in charge of the operation then continued on her way.

~fin~


End file.
